Upon his returm from Europe in 1897, King
Rama V
( 1868-1910) used his personal money to
purchase orchards and paddy fields between
Padung Krungkasem Canal and Samsen Canal
for the construction of a royal garden
which he naned "The Dusit Garden"
The first permanent residence in the Dusit
Garden was Vimanmek Mansion, built in
1900 by royal command of king Rama V.

The
King had the Munthaturattanaroj Residence
in Chuthathujrachathan at Koh Sri Chang,
chonbudismantledandrebuilt in the Dusit
garden under the superbision of HRH Prince
Narissaranuwaddhiwongse. The celebrationfor
the completion of Vimanmek Mansion was
held on March 27, 1901. King rama V then
moved his residence from The Grand Palace
to stay permanently at Vimanmek Mansion
for five years until the completion of
Amporn Satarn Residence in 1906 where
he lived until his death in 1910 Vimanmek
Mansion was then closed down and members
of the royal family moved backto the Grand
Palace Near the end of his reign,King
rama VI (1910-1925) gave permission to
Her Majesty Indharasaksaji to stay at
Vimanmek Mansion and the Mansion was closed.

King
Rama VII (1925-1934) renovated the
Mansion several times. For example, he
ordered the installation of newelectrical
wires and the repair of cotumns of the
main pier at the artificial lake in the
garden. But staring in 1932, Vimanmekansion
was used only as a storage place of the
Bureau of the Royal Household.In 1982,
on the auspicious occasion of the Bicentennial
Anniversary of Bangkok, Her Majesty Queen
Sirikit who had discovered that Vimanmek
Mansion, with its elaborate architectural
style was still intact, asked permissionofHis
Majesty King Rama IX to renovate the Mansion
for use as a museum to commemorate King
Rama V by displaying his photographs,personal
art and handicrafts,and to serve as a
showcase of the Thai national heritage
for future generation. Vimanmek Mansion
is the world's largest golden teakwood
mansion with its elaborate architectural
style refecting a western influence. The
building has two right-angled wings, each
wing 60 meters long and meters high, and
is three-storied except for the part where
King Rama V resided, which is octagonal
and four-storied. Although the ground
floor is brick and cement, the uypper
floors are built of beautiful golden teakwood.
Altogerher there are 31 exhibition rooms,
with the bedrooms, the throneroom and
the bathrooms maintaining the atmosphere
of the Thai past. Some display rooms house
exhibitions of Thaiart including silverware,
ceramics, crystalware, and ivory.Besides
Vimanmek Mansion and Amporn Satarn Residence
in the compound of Dusit Garden (or Dusit
Palace -as it was later Rama V ), King
Rama and other wives.

He also named gardens, canals, gates and
roads after ancient chinese ceramics (
commonly called "Khrueng Kim Tung"),
which were very popular at the time. Thus,
the residence that belonged to to HRH
Srisawarindhira was named Suan Hong Residence
( swan Garden Residence). These residences
located north of Vimanmek Mansion Have
been turned into museum buildings and
a hall for royal coaches on show to the
public.